Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 233 The Five Hokage Gathered

Xia Zuo's wood clone held the metal card and looked at Uchiha Obito with a smile.

Watching him almost collapse from fear, watching him shout "Lin" and desperately overcome his fear, and regain his fighting spirit.

Wood Clone Xia Zuo laughed: "They say that turning evil makes you ten times stronger, while turning good makes you three times weaker. The ancients were right!"

"Before you awakened your Sharingan, you were definitely a deadbeat who dragged the team down. Besides causing trouble for your teammates and increasing risks, you were practically useless."

"Who knew that after witnessing Rin Nohara's murder and turning to the dark side, you not only awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan on the spot, but also changed your personality."

"Think about how you were just now. You were so scared that your legs went weak, but you managed to pull yourself together and regain the courage to fight."

"If you had had that kind of backbone and courage back then, how could Nohara Rin have been murdered?"

After hearing Rin's name for the third time, Obito Uchiha finally snapped: "Shut up, shut up!"

"You are not allowed to mention Rin's name. It was your Konoha village that killed Rin. You are not worthy to mention Rin's name!"

Obito clapped his hands together, and wooden spikes sprouted from his body, lunging at Xia Zuo's wooden clone like venomous snakes.

However, when these wooden spikes hit Xia Zuo, they did not cause him any harm; instead, they merged with Xia Zuo.

Wood clone Xia Zuo laughed, "So changing your personality didn't affect your brain after all."

"I already told you, I am a Wood Clone, a creation of the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai. You actually attacked me with a Wood Release secret technique, aren't you just giving me free chakra?"

"Should I say thank you?"

Obito Uchiha's face flushed red as he cursed, "Bastard, you—"

Before he could finish speaking, he was kicked away by the wood clone Xia Zuo, who then rushed up and started punching and kicking Uchiha Obito.

Suddenly, a delightful scream echoed through the Divine Might Space.

Twelve days later, Obito Uchiha finally managed to wait until Natsume's clone ran out of chakra. He destroyed the Flying Thunder God mark and left the Kamui dimension with his severely injured body.

Black Zetsu was startled when he saw Obito Uchiha. Because of repeated serious injuries and self-healing, Obito had exhausted his body's energy and was so thin that he looked like a skeleton covered in skin.

Obito Uchiha felt extremely miserable. He had just struggled back from the brink of death when he learned about the explosion of the Loulan from Black Zetsu.

Dragging his heavy body, Obito Uchiha secretly slipped over to see the scene and was filled with despair.

He finally understood what the wooden clone meant when it said it was lucky. If the wooden clone that appeared in the Divine Might Space could use this forbidden technique, it would definitely be annihilated without a trace.

Obito Uchiha asked Black Zetsu, "How...how can we defeat the Fifth Hokage?"

"Without dealing with this domineering Hokage, we can't collect the Tailed Beasts, and we can't advance the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan."

Black Zetsu also felt somewhat frustrated, but having suffered many defeats over the millennia, it had not lost its will to fight.

After thinking for a moment, Black Zetsu suggested, "We need to strengthen our cooperation with Nagato. Only by relying on Nagato's Rinnegan power can we possibly defeat the Fifth Hokage."

"However, we need to show sincerity and make Nagato truly accept us."

Obito Uchiha, now devoid of his former arrogance, nodded resignedly: "I understand. I can remove my mask and tell him my identity. What about you?"

Black Zetsu said helplessly, "Tell him all my information, including what happened with Madara. Don't hide anything from him except the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan."

"In this way, we've told 99% of the truth, and we'll definitely be able to gain Nagato's trust."

After agreeing on their plan, Obito Uchiha and Black Zetsu found Nagato, leading to their previous conversation.

Later, at Nagato's request, they revealed more information. In Obito's mind, apart from the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan, there was nothing left to hide, and they finally gained Nagato's initial trust.

Nagato laughed and said, "Since you have been so honest in telling me all the information, I can forgive you for what you concealed before."

"Remember, this is your last chance. If I find out you're hiding anything again, I'll kill both of you."

Obito Uchiha lowered his head: "Lord Nagato, please take good care of me from now on."

Black Zetsu lowered its head obediently, behaving like a loyal dog.

The unruly fellow lowered his head, and this sense of accomplishment made Nagato feel great. He finally let down most of his guard and laughed happily.

"Sometimes, a powerful enemy isn't all bad; he can help us resolve internal conflicts."

But Nagato did not let his guard down. He quickly summoned Konan and listened with her as Obito Uchiha recounted more details.

This was a very useful decision. The observant Konan quickly noticed a problem: "When you were attacked, the Fifth Hokage said he was doing something important, so he could only create one Wood Clone."

"That's the Fifth Hokage, what could possibly be of such importance to him?"

Nagato asked, "Could it be the Loulan explosion?"

Xiao Nan shook her head and said, "No, the time difference is too great, it doesn't match up at all."

Obito Uchiha finally realized the problem and began to think hard, but the four members of Akatsuki soon gave up.

Nagato said, "Don't even think about it, you can't figure it out anyway."

"Black Zetsu, I'm leaving this matter to you. Get information about this from Konoha Village as soon as possible."

Black Zetsu did not refuse and obediently accepted the order.

But both it and Nagato, Konan, and Obito knew that this was almost impossible to do.

Black Zetsu can indeed pass through the barrier of Konoha Village. It can even move freely in most parts of Konoha Village, including some secret laboratories and warehouses.

However, the Kage-level ninjas of Konoha Village are not so easy to approach. The Fifth Hokage, Natsume, Orochimaru, Jiraiya the Toad Sage, Shisui Uchiha, and Izumi Uchiha are all powerful ninjas who can sense the presence of Black Zetsu at close range.

Only Tsunade, the strongest medical ninja, is relatively easy to approach, but the information she receives is usually related to medicine, which is not something the Akatsuki organization is interested in.

The information we are investigating is the "most important thing" mentioned by the Fifth Hokage. Given the Hokage's usual caution, this matter will definitely not be recorded in writing.

Either he was the only one who knew, or he only told a few Kage-level ninjas, making it impossible to steal.

However, Black Zetsu wasn't worried.

Nagato's tone wasn't harsh; he was clearly just telling him to give it a try.

Success is great, but failure will not be punished.

Black Zetsu was surprised when Nagato suddenly said to it, "Black Zetsu, when you go to Konoha to gather intelligence, you must be extremely careful. It's better to give up the intelligence than to be caught by the Fifth Hokage."

"You have all seen what Loulan looks like. I can tell you clearly that I am no match for the Fifth Hokage right now, and I will not be able to defeat him in the next few years."

"Until I gain greater power, I hope you will keep a low profile and avoid causing unnecessary conflict."

Obito Uchiha and Black Zetsu exchanged a glance and replied, "We'll be careful."

Yes, of course they know they can't mess with the Fifth Hokage.

Not only should you not provoke him, you should also avoid him as much as possible.

The Fifth Hokage was not only the strongest, but also a ticking time bomb, and even suffered from paranoia.

Even though the Fourth Kazekage had no intention of betraying Konoha, he still had Orochimaru use him to seduce and test the Kazekage.

Once Fengying couldn't resist falling for the trick, she didn't hesitate to force him to commit suicide.

Is this something a human would do?

Since the joint Chunin Exams and the great explosion in the Kingdom of Loulan, all the demons and monsters in the ninja world have felt the power and terror of the Fifth Hokage.

They huddled in their own dark corners, trembling with fear, no longer daring to show their faces and cause trouble.

The ninja world thus entered a period of stability.

In the most secret laboratory of Konoha Village, the First Hokage Hashirama Senju, the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the Fifth Hokage Natsuko were curiously watching a blond-haired, resurrected dead man—the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze.

Outside the small circle formed by the five Hokage were the three legendary Sannin of Konoha, Uchiha Shisui, and Uchiha Izumi—all Kage-level ninjas.

The major event that influenced Xia Zuo's attack on Uchiha Obito was extracting the Fourth Hokage's soul from the Shinigami and then handing it over to Orochimaru for the Impure World Reincarnation.

With another dream gathering, Naruto Natsumi finally mastered the power of the Shinigami, transforming his soul into a spirit particle state.

As a result, Xia Zuo gained an enhancement in his illusionary abilities, especially his illusionary defense, which was elevated to a whole new level.

But none of that matters.

-

Importantly, Xia Zuo was finally able to sense the Grim Reaper of the ninja world and communicate with Him.

The state of the Shinigami in the ninja world is very strange. He has split into thousands of Shinigami, yet he has maintained the consistency of divine authority.

Dozens of Death Gods operated the Law of Death together with precision and rigor. Their awe-inspiring divine power even made Xia Zuo feel fear and dare not offend this supreme law.

However, when it comes to a single Grim Reaper, they are dull and weak with almost no thinking ability, even behaving like a system puppet that operates according to the rules.

Of the dozens of Shinigami, 18 were captured by the Uzumaki clan and sealed in the masks of Namendou, which are also the source of power for the Uzumaki clan's most bizarre sealing technique, the "Shiki Seal".

Fortunately, these death gods have no emotions and do not consider this an act of blasphemy, nor does it affect their operation of the laws of death; otherwise, the Uzumaki clan would have been wiped out the day they developed the [Corpse Demon Seal].

Because he was able to communicate, Xia Zuo did not learn Orochimaru's method of stealing the Fourth Hokage's soul by finding a loophole in the Shinigami system.

Following the death balance and exchange law followed by the Grim Reaper, he exchanged the soul of the Fourth Hokage for the souls of four death row inmates.

Half of the Nine-Tails was also rescued.

When Orochimaru completed the Impure World Reincarnation, Minato Namikaze had not yet regained his senses when the Yin-attribute Nine-Tails jumped out, attempting to protect its friend.

It roared, "Stay away! Don't come near the water gate, or I'll kill you all!"

The Nine-Tails' act of protecting its Jinchuriki aroused the curiosity of the First and Second Hokage, who then launched a brutal and inhumane act of watching.

Because they were so close, the Yin-attribute Nine-Tails was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, its fur standing on end.

But the next moment, the Nine-Tails' roar was suddenly choked in its throat: "Senju, Senju Hashirama, you, you weren't dead?"

"No, I... I'm dead too. I was killed by Minato Namikaze."

"Then why am I here? Why is Hashirama Senju looking at me? What am I supposed to do?"

Xia Zuo shook his head and laughed, "First Generation, stay away from Kurama. Look how scared it is, it's even talking incoherently."

Hashirama Senju scratched the back of his head and laughed, "Haha, this is the first time I've ever seen the Nine-Tails protect humans. How interesting."

""

Xia Zuo said, "The Fourth Hokage is the most approachable and diplomatic ninja of all the Hokage. He and Kurama stayed in the stomach of the Shinigami for 12 years, completely winning over Kurama's heart. It's not surprising that he turned enemies into friends."

"Hey, First Generation, if you move any further away, the Nine-Tails is terrified of you."

"Oh, oh, okay, I'll take two more steps back." As Hashirama Senju retreated, he asked curiously, "Although I don't remember the Nine-Tails being that strong, this Nine-Tails is too weak."

"It feels like you could crush it with just one hand; it's so weak."

Minato Namikaze, who was not yet fully awake, instinctively answered the question: "Kurama has indeed become weaker because I separated the Nine-Tails into Yin and Yang and sealed them separately."

Kurama snorted arrogantly, "Hmph, it's all that idiot Fourth Hokage's fault that I've ended up in such a miserable state."

Tobirama Senju frowned and asked, "Why would you break the seal on the Nine-Tails? Isn't that just needlessly reducing Konoha's deterrent power?"

Minato Namikaze fully regained consciousness. He opened his mouth wide and pointed at Tobirama Senju, saying, "The Second Hokage?"

"And the First Hokage!"

"Ah, the Third Hokage, Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya-sensei."

Jiraiya's tears streamed down his face: "It's good that I can get out of the Grim Reaper's belly, it's good that I can get out."

Minato Namikaze looked at his hands and body and quickly realized that he had been rescued from the stomach of a Shinigami and then resurrected using the Impure World Reincarnation technique.

He spoke a few words to Jiraiya first, then bowed to Orochimaru and said, "Thank you very much, Lord Orochimaru, for helping me escape from the hell inside the Grim Reaper's belly."

Orochimaru chuckled, "Using the Impure World Reincarnation Technique is nothing special. The person you should really thank is the Fifth Hokage."

"He used some kind of mysterious secret technique to pull you out of the belly of death."

The Fourth Hokage bowed again before approaching Xia Zuo and sincerely thanking him, saying, "Thank you for your rescue, Fifth Hokage."

Xia Zuo readily accepted Minato Namikaze's gratitude.

He not only rescued Minato Namikaze, but also protected Naruto Uzumaki from the Third Hokage's poison, making him an absolute benefactor to the Minato family.

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